Media for Development: Issues, Factors and a final Caveat
Prof. (Dr.) Mrinal
Chatterjee
Professor, Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC),
What is Development?
Development is a complex issue, with many different and
sometimes contentious definitions. A basic perspective equates development with
economic growth. The United Nations Development Programme uses a more detailed
definition,[1]
according to which development is to
lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to have access to the
resources needed for a decent standard of living and to be able to participate
in the life of the community. Thus, development encompasses other indicators of
quality of life, both physical and metaphysical, as an individual and as a
member of the society.
Achieving human development is linked to a third perspective
of development which views it as freeing people from obstacles that affect
their ability to develop their own lives and communities. Development,
therefore, is empowerment.[2]
What is Media?
Media is defined as “Communication channels through which
news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated.
Media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers,
magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet.”[3]
However, often it is used to denote ‘news media’ or ‘press’.
What Media does?
Media can play five roles. There can
be considerable overlapping in the roles.
·
Media
as an Informer: Media informs. That is the primary function of news media. It
informs about events; and also about various problems of society, and what
causes them, and what is being done or not done about them. This helps fix
accountability.
·
Media
as a Watchdog: Media defends public interest by keeping watch over the goings
on in the society. It is said that sunshine is the best disinfectant. That
somebody is watching me- is the best deterrent to lot of social maladies like
corruption.
·
Media
as an Enabler: Media increases people’s access to information. Information
brings them power and to some extent prosperity. If we take a look at the media
consumption and development matrix of Kerala and Bihar or Orissa, we shall find
that there is a clear relation between access and use of media and development.
It also can and often does act like a force multiplier, creating and/or
consolidating public opinion.
·
Media
as a Public sphere: People can air and share their ideas through mass media.
Issues can be discussed. Suggestions for solutions of problems can be aired and
discussed.
·
Media
as a Platform: Media provides platform, where people can air their grievances,
put forth their views, and participate in governance. By providing a platform
and acting as a public sphere, it enables people to engage with governance.
Media and Development
As stated earlier, media encompasses several genres with
diverse objectives. Depending on its nature, agenda and objective, its
engagement with development could range from zero to cursory to nihilistic to
the whole hearted one.
Among the media which engages itself with development there
could be two broad divisions: media on
development and media for development.
It needs further explanation.
The news media usually focuses on development from news angle. They may report on development
related events/issues, analyze and debate over concerned issues/initiatives. This
may be called Development Journalism. The objective basically is to inform the
stakeholders and to help them an informed decision by providing analysis and
perspective from different angles.
Then there is a section of Media
which works for development. This
could be NGOs, development activists, Public Relation Personnel of government
or even Corporations effecting development projects. This might include a
section of news media too. This could be termed as Development Communication.
It has a different objective. Development
communication is organized effort to use communications processes and media to
bring about development by several means including effecting some kind of behaviour change on the part of stakeholders. Its
scope and scale of operation is usually bigger than Development Journalism.
Can Media impact
Development?
Several
research studies have conclusively proved that media influences attitudes,
perceptions and decision making; and it generally influences behaviour. Interestingly, it does, often without
people knowing it. Consider Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. In
social learning theory Albert Bandura (1977) states behaviour is learned from
the environment through the process of observational learning.[4] Media often helps create that
environment/ambience in which learning takes place.
However it must also be noted that media’s influence is not
all pervasive. Media is not the kind of magic bullet that once it was
considered to be. Several factors (social, political, behavioral and
psychological) impact media’s efficacy.
Besides these, media, especially news media now has to
grapple with some issues if it wants to remain relevant in its engagement with
development process.
Issues
a.
Control: Media
must enjoy considerable freedom to meaningfully engage with the development process.
A controlled media can hardly be
effective. Control of the media by a
few individuals, corporations or governments is inimical to the media’s ability
to effectively carry out its role.
b.
Framing:
It is defined as “Setting an approach or query within an
appropriate context to achieve a desired result or elicit a precise answer.”[5]. Put
simply, it means how do you want your viewers/readers to see an event/issue.
Framing in the social sciences refers to a set of concepts and theoretical
perspectives on how individuals, groups, and societies organize, perceive, and
communicate about reality. In psychology domain, ‘framing effect’ is an example
of cognitive bias, in which people react differently to a particular choice
depending on whether it is presented as a loss or as a gain. Media can, if it
wants, create that bias. Noam Chomsky has elaborated on the concept as
‘manufacturing consent’.
c.
Competition: Media world has become over crowded,
at least in India. There are over 84, 000 publications, 700 plus television
stations including over 200 news channels, over 500 radio stations including
the AIR stations and private stations and countless news sites. In a fiercely
competitive field, all players shout and screech for attention; and
unfortunately in the competitive screeching the core issue often gets lost.
d.
Trivialisation: The fierce competition in the
media world and other factors including financial often make media go for the
trivial. Trivialisation erodes its credibility.
Caveat
Media can play a
meaningful positive role in the process of development. However, media’s role
can be negative for the society if they are selective, biased, sensational,
trivial and inclined to propaganda and other vices.
Therefore, Media must maintain its credibility[6]. Credibility is the source of all power of Media. Media is powerful because people have faith in it. People believe in what appears in media. This faith propels people to action. It may not always translate to immediate physical action. But the impact is there. It shows probably in the next election result or rejection of a policy or in any which way. And because it leads to action, media assume the position of power.
Therefore, Media must maintain its credibility[6]. Credibility is the source of all power of Media. Media is powerful because people have faith in it. People believe in what appears in media. This faith propels people to action. It may not always translate to immediate physical action. But the impact is there. It shows probably in the next election result or rejection of a policy or in any which way. And because it leads to action, media assume the position of power.
Credibility has two key
components: trustworthiness and expertise. Trustworthiness means the condition
of being worthy of being trusted.[7] Trust on the other hand
means firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or
something. Being truthful and reliable are two major constructs of trust.
Expertise[8] means special skill, knowledge, or
judgment. People rely on the reports published in media also because they have
faith on the ability of the people doing it.
Media Credibility depends on just two factors: Satya (Truth) and Seva (Service).
Truth- not in any philosophical sense, but in a very mundane
physical sense: complete adherence to fact- unbiased, objective.
Service[9]
- not in a physical sense but in an altruistic sense: media must have a moral
universe, a sense of justice[10]
and fairplay; and empathy for the underprivileged.
When
Media sticks to ‘truth’ and ‘service’ it almost automatically helps
development- physically and socially; and also morally and spiritually.
***
7 April 2013
Sanchar Marg, Dhenkanal 759 001, Odisha
[1]
Development is a comprehensive,
economic, social, cultural and political process which aims at the constant
improvement of the wellbeing of the entire population and of all individuals on
the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in development and
in the fair distribution of benefits resulting there from.-UN Definition
[2]
http://www.volunteeringoptions.org/VolunteeringDevelopment/WhatisDevelopment/tabid/78/Default.aspx
[3]
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/media.html#ixzz2PgZO9UUu
Bandura’s
social learning theory indicates the effectiveness of human social models in
influencing another to change behaviors, beliefs or attitudes, as well as
social and cognitive functioning. Through processes such as observation,
vicarious experience (experience gained by observing another) and social
interaction, one can acquire the behaviors or expertise mediated through a
human social model. The theory takes into account that learners can abstract a
range of information from the behaviors of others and that learners can then
make decisions about which behaviors to adopt and which to ignore or not adopt.
Bandura notes that learners may acquire internal codes of behavior that they
may or not perform later based on the observation.
http://www.ulqcl.com/kappnotes/index.php/2011/05/banduras-social-learning-theory/
[5]
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/framing.html
[6] [noun] the quality of being believable or
trustworthy. Synonyms: credibleness, believability.
[7]
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/trustworthiness
[8] It consists of those characteristics,
skills and knowledge of a person (that is, expert) or of a system, which
distinguish experts from novices and less experienced people. An expert is someone widely recognized as a
reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding
rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or
the public in a specific well-distinguished domain. An expert, more generally,
is a person with extensive knowledge or ability based on research, experience,
or occupation and in a particular area of study. An expert can be, by virtue of
credential, training, education, profession, publication or experience,
believed to have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average
person, sufficient that others may rely upon the individual's opinion.
[9]
Mahatma Gandhi
wrote in his autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with the Truth: “In the
very first month of Indian Opinion, I realised that the sole aim of
journalism should be service (Penguin
Books, 1983) ”. This is the essence of ethics for media.
[10]
As Martin Luther King, Jr had said,…. “the arc of the moral universe is long,
but it bends toward justice.”
Presented as a paper at the seminar on “Frontiers of Development Practices in India: Reconfiguring
the Development of Underdevelopment”, 13-14 April 2013, organized by Dept. of
Sociology, School of social Sciences, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack
